The question of the week is back, and this week we present you with 7 viewpoints from our ecoTrain writers. The question this week is one that applies to all of us, whether we have already had children or if we are parents to be. How to teach happiness, how to be happy, and indeed what happiness even is, are just some of the issues that we have brought up in our posts.
We would like to hear your opinion in our comments, and will be awarding a total of $25 SBD to you for sharing your answer to this question below. Awards will range from $1 to $5 depending on your comment. So what are you waiting for, please start reading our posts and then be sure to let us know what you think!
Thanks for being a part of the Question Of the Week where we share, inspire, and collaborate on important topics that are worth thinking about. If you would like to recommend a QOTW please let us know in the comments and we may choose it for next week's question! If we really like your comment we will also invite you to join us as an ecoTrain passenger ;-)
@likedeeler
This week´s ecoTrain question is a tricky one, because the question itself exposes a certain mindset which I do not agree with, namely the idea that one person can know what is best for another person.
As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and few fields of human interaction are better suited to prove that point than children´s education, with parents wanting the best for their children and failing miserably.
@sharoonyasir
There are scores of things that I can think of to teach Faateh right now. He is my 4 year old son- the light of my life and the sunny to my gloomy as I often call him. He does not understand it completely right now but he is beginning to grasp it better since I sang the ‘You are my sunshine’ song to him. So now when I call him the light of my life, he smiles and gives me a kiss but that doesn’t happen always, you know kids and their moods. Lol.
@clara-andriessen
Hello you, welcome.
Well that would be: self acceptance.
I believe that when a person can accept him/herself, the best he/she has to give will come out.
Yep. 😊
It means giving a child the general feeling that he/she is ok the way he/she is. That what they feel they need (desires) and what they feel is bad for them (boundaries) is generally ok and alright to be expressed. It doesn't mean that what is desired can always be given, or what is wanted to be avoided can always be avoided, because life isn't perfect. But... in general the child should be made to feel that the world around it (consisting mostly of the parents for the first few years) is most of the time accepting him/her and willing to cooperate with what the child wants to achieve/avoid. Meaning the balance should always be tipping over on the accepting side of things.
@hopehuggs
The most important thing that a parent, or indeed a teacher, can teach a child is that happiness is a choice. Every morning I used to have tears (from the girls mainly) about going to school, that it was going to be a bad day from the outset. My eldest used to come home from school claiming it was a good day, but by the next morning she'd have 'forgotten' and the rigmarole of getting her in the school door would continue. She'd run away at the school gates, hold on tight to the railings on the steps up to the door determined that the day would not go well.
@eco-alex
As I ponder this deep question, I am struck by the realisation that whatever answer I have to this weeks' Question Of The Week, it is advice that I had better take myself! Sometimes the best advice we give to others, is also the best advice we can give ourselves, and today that is certainly the case! We aren't given a parenting Bible when we have children, and in the western world these days, most of us are pretty unprepared for the entire journey! In times past, and still today in less developed areas, we had a very strong family unit and community support. Back in the day, it would be absolutely natural that the mother of the parent would be very present to support, advise, and help in any way needed. These days our family unit has been eroded to the extent that it is not easy for many mothers and daughters to share time and space without conflict and stress. Even if they do have a good relationship, people are very busy and ofter far apart from each other which makes daily support impossible.
@sashagenji
I really like this week's ecoTrain question. And although I am not yet a parent (one day I will definitely join the club) I still want to voice my version. So, I decided to write a letter to my future child. Who knows, maybe in a few years he/she (and I myself probably) will be interested in reading this creation again.
@gardenbsquared
To answer this question first one has to define what a ‘happy life’ really is. Is it a successful life with a career, lots of money and a lot of possessions? It might help and it is of course very important that the basic requirements to survive are met in order to be happy. It’s very difficult to be happy when you’re really hungry. Or is it a life in which one reaches ones full potential as a human being? To be able to be oneself and to thrive are for me the most important prerequisites to live a happy life.
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